Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday that official Belgrade has secured 1.8 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine which will be delivered by the end of this year and all through 2021.

He told a news conference that health care staff and security sector personnel will be the first to be vaccinated. “We will try to secure the vaccine for them by the end of January because they are the hardest hit sectors. Right after them are the people with serious illnesses who can fall victim to COVID more easily, then our elderly citizens and only then for the middle-aged and young people,” Vucic said.  

He said that the vaccines will “most probably by Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines” but added that the Serbian authorities are “negotiating with Chinese and Russian partners, everyone who can get the vaccine”.  

“This is not a political decision because it is about the health of the people,” Vucic said. “We will do everything to secure as much of the vaccine as possible and end this fight against COVID,” he said.